A HISTORY OF COFFEE IN LITERATURE Page 1

The romance of coffee, and its influence on the discourse, poetry, history, drama, philosophic writing, and fiction of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and on the writers of today—Coffee quips and anecdotes

 Any study of the literature of coffee comprehends a survey of selections from the best thought of civilized nations, from the time of Rhazes (850–922) to Francis Saltus. We have seen in chapter III how Rhazes, the physician-philosopher, appears to have been the first writer to mention coffee; and was followed by other great physicians, like Bengiazlah, a contemporary, and Avicenna (980–1037).

Then arose many legends about coffee, that served as inspiration for Arabian, French, Italian, and English poets.

Sheik Gemaleddin, mufti of Mocha, is said to have discovered the virtues of coffee about 1454, and to have promoted the use of the drink in Arabia. Knowledge of the new beverage was given to Europeans by the botanists Rauwolf and Alpini toward the close of the sixteenth century.

The first authentic account of the origin of coffee was written by Abd-al-Kâdir in 1587. It is the famous Arabian manuscript commending the use of coffee, preserved in the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, and catalogued as "Arabe, 4590."

Its title written in Arabic is as follows:

which is pronounced (reading right to left):

or; in the literary style: omdatu s safwati fi hallu 'l kahwati which means—literally, (the corresponding words being underlined and numbered)

or, more freely, "Argument in favor of the legitimate use of coffee."

kahwa, is the Arabic word for coffee.

The author is Abd-al-Kâdir ibn Mohammad al Ansâri al Jazari al Hanbali. That is, he was named Abd-al-Kâdir, son of Mohammed.

Abd-al-Kâdir means "slave of the strong one" (i.e., of God); while al Ansâri means that he was a descendant of the Ansâri (i.e., "helpers"), the people of Medina who received and protected the Prophet Mohammed after his flight from Mecca; al Jazari means that he was a man of Mesopotamia; and al Hanbali that in law and theology he belonged to the well known sect, or school, of the Hanbalites, so called after the great jurist and writer, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who died at Bagdad A.H. 241 (A.D. 855). The Hanbalites are one of the four great sects of the Sunni Mohammedans.

Abd-al-Kâdir ibn Mohammed lived in the tenth century of the Hegira—the sixteenth of our era—and wrote his book in 996 A.H., or 1587 A.D. Coffee had then been in common use since about 1450 A.D. in Arabia. It was not in use in the time of the Prophet, who died in 632 A.D.; but he had forbidden the drink of strong liquors which affect the brain, and hence it was argued that coffee, as a stimulant, was unlawful. Even today, the community of the Wahabis, very powerful in Arabia a hundred years ago, and still dominant in part of it, do not permit the use of coffee.

Abd-al-Kâdir's book is thought to have been based on an earlier writing by Shihâb-ad-Dîn Ahmad ibn Abd-al-Ghafâr al Maliki, as he refers to the latter on the third page of his manuscript; but if so, this previous work does not appear to have been preserved. La Roque says Shihâb-ad-Dîn was an Arabian historian who supplied the main part of Abd-al-Kâdir's story. La Roque refers also to a Turkish historian.

Research by the author has failed to disclose anything about Shihâb-ad-Dîn save his name (al Maliki means that he belonged to the Malikites, another of the four great Sunni sects), and that he wrote about a hundred years before Abd-al-Kâdir. No copy of his writings is known to exist.

The illustrations show the title page of Abd-al-Kâdir's manuscript, the first page, the third page, and the fly leaf of the cover, the latter containing an inscription in Latin made at the time the manuscript was first received or classified. It reads:

Omdat al safouat fl hall al cahuat.

De usu legitimo et licito potionis quae vulgo Café nuncupatur. Authore Abdalcader Ben Mohammed al Ansâri. Constat hic liber capitibus septem, et ab authore editus est anno hegirae 996 quo anno centum et viginti anni effluxerant ex quo huius potionis usus in Arabia felice invaluerat

The translation of the Latin is:

Concerning the legitimate and lawful use of the drink commonly known as café by Abdalcader Ben Mohammed al Ansâri. The book is composed in seven chapters and was brought out by the author in the year of the Hegira 996 at which time a hundred and twenty years had passed since the use of this drink had become firmly established in Arabia Felix.

Coffee in Poetry

The Abd-al-Kâdir work immortalized coffee. It is in seven chapters. The first treats of the etymology and significance of the word cahouah (kahwa), the nature and properties of the bean, where the drink was first used, and describes its virtues. The other chapters have to do largely with the church dispute in Mecca in 1511, answer the religious objectors to coffee, and conclude with a collection of Arabic verses composed during the Mecca controversy by the best poets of the time.

De Nointel, ambassador from the court of Louis XIV to the Ottoman Porte, brought back with him to Paris from Constantinople the Abd-al-Kâdir manuscript, and another by Bichivili, one of the three general treasurers of the Ottoman Empire. The latter work is of a later date than the Abd-al-Kâdir manuscript, and is concerned chiefly with the history of the introduction of coffee into Egypt, Syria, Damascus, Aleppo, and Constantinople.

The following are two of the earliest Arabic poems in praise of coffee. They are about the period of the first coffee persecution in Mecca (1511), and are typical of the best thought of the day:

In Praise of Coffee

Translation from the Arabic

O Coffee! Thou dost dispel all cares, thou art the object of desire to the scholar.
This is the beverage of the friends of God; it gives health to those in its service who strive after wisdom.
Prepared from the simple shell of the berry, it has the odor of musk and the color of ink.
The intelligent man who empties these cups of foaming coffee, he alone knows truth.
May God deprive of this drink the foolish man who condemns it with incurable obstinacy.
Coffee is our gold. Wherever it is served, one enjoys the society of the noblest and most generous men.
O drink! As harmless as pure milk, which differs from it only in its blackness.

Here is another, rhymed version of the same poem:

In Praise of Coffee

Translation from the Arabic

O coffee! Doved and fragrant drink, thou drivest care away,
The object thou of that man's wish who studies night and day.
Thou soothest him, thou giv'st him health, and God doth favor those
Who walk straight on in wisdom's way, nor seek their own repose.
Fragrant as musk thy berry is, yet black as ink in sooth!
And he who sips thy fragrant cup can only know the truth.
Insensate they who, tasting not, yet vilify its use;
For when they thirst and seek its help, God will the gift refuse.
Oh, coffee is our wealth! for see, where'er on earth it grows,
Men live whose aims are noble, true virtues who disclose.

Coffee Companionship

Translation from the Arabic

Come and enjoy the company of coffee in the places of its habitation; for the Divine Goodness envelops those who partake of its feast.

There the elegance of the rugs, the sweetness of life, the society of the guests, all give a picture of the abode of the blest.

It is a wine which no sorrow could resist when the cup-bearer presents thee with the cup which contains it.

It is not long since Aden saw thy birth. If thou doubtest this, see the freshness of youth shining on the faces of thy children.

Grief is not found within its habitations. Trouble yields humbly to its power.

It is the beverage of the children of God, it is the source of health.

It is the stream in which we wash away our sorrows. It is the fire which consumes our griefs.

Whoever has once known the chafing-dish which prepares this beverage, will feel only aversion for wine and liquor from casks.

Delicious beverage, its color is the seal of its purity.

Reason pronounces favorably on the lawfulness of it.

Drink of it confidently, and give not ear to the speech of the foolish, who condemn it without reason.

During the period of the second religious persecution of coffee in the latter part of the sixteenth century, other Arabian poets sang the praises of coffee. The learned Fakr-Eddin-Aboubeckr ben Abid Iesi wrote a book entitled The Triumph of Coffee, and the poet-sheikh Sherif-Eddin-Omar-ben-Faredh sang of it in harmonious verse, wherein, discoursing of his mistress, he could find no more flattering comparison than coffee. He exclaims, "She has made me drink, in long draughts, the fever, or, rather, the coffee of love!"

The numerous contributions by early travelers to the literature of coffee have been mentioned in chronological order in the history chapters. After Rauwolf and Alpini, there were Sir Antony Sherley, Parry, Biddulph, Captain John Smith, Sir George Sandys, Sir Thomas Herbert, and Sir Henry Blount in England; Tavernier, Thévenot, Bernier, P. de la Roque, and Galland in France; Delia Valle in Italy; Olearius and Niebhur in Germany; Nieuhoff in Holland, and others.

Francis Bacon wrote about coffee in his Hist. Vitae et Mortis and Sylva Sylvarum, 1623–27. Burton referred to it in his "Anatomy of Melancholy" in 1632. Parkinson described it in his Theatrum Botanicum in 1640. In 1652, Pasqua Rosée published his famous handbill in London, a literary effort as well as a splendid first advertisement.

Faustus Nairon (Banesius) produced in Rome, in 1671, the first printed treatise devoted solely to coffee. The same year Dufour brought out the first treatise in French. This he followed in 1684 with his work, The manner of making coffee, tea, and chocolate. John Ray extolled the virtues of coffee in his Universal Botany of Plants, published in London in 1686. Galland translated the Abd-al-Kâdir manuscript into French in 1699, and Jean La Roque published his Voyage de l'Arabie Heureuse in Paris in 1715. Excerpts from nearly all these works appear in various chapters of this work.

Leonardus Ferdinandus Meisner published a Latin treatise on coffee, tea, and chocolate in 1721. Dr. James Douglas published in London (1727) his Arbor yemensis fructum cofè ferens, or a description and history of the Coffee Tree. This work laid under contribution many of the Italian, German, French, and English scholars mentioned above; and the author mentioned as other sources of information: Dr. Quincy, Pechey, Gaudron, de Fontenelle, Professor Boerhaave, Figueroa, Chabraeus, Sir Hans Sloane, Langius, and Du Mont.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the poets and dramatists of France, Italy, and England found a plentiful supply in what had already been written on coffee; to say nothing of the inspiration offered by the drink itself, and by the society of the cafés of the period.

French poets, familiar with Latin, first took coffee as the subject of their verse. Vaniére sang its praises in the eighth book of his Praedium rusticum; and Fellon, a Jesuit professor of Trinity College, Lyons, wrote a didactic poem called, Faba Arabica, Carmen, which is included in the Poemata didascalica of d'Olivet.

Abbé Guillaume Massieu's Carmen Caffaeum, composed in 1718, has been referred to in chapter III. It was read at the Academy of Inscriptions. One of the panegyrists of this author, de Boze, in his Elogé de Massieu, says that if Horace and Virgil had known of coffee, the poem might easily have been attributed to them; and Thery, who translated it into French, says "it is a pearl of elegance in a rare jewel case."

The following translation of the poem from the Latin original was made for this work:

Coffee

A Poem by Guillaume Massieu of the French Academy
(A literal prose translation from the original Latin in the British Museum.)

How coffee first came to our shores,
What the nature of the divine drink is, what its use,
How it brings ready aid to man against every kind of evils,
I shall here begin to tell in simple verse.

You soft-spoken men, who have often tried the sweetness of this drink,
If it has never deceived your wishes or mocked your hopes
With its empty results, be propitious and lend a willing ear to our song.
And may you, O Phoebus, kindly be present, to acknowledge
As your gift the power of herbs and healthful plants, and to
Dispel sad diseases from our bodies; for they say you are
The author of this blessing, and may you spread your
Gifts among peoples, and everywhere far and wide throughout the entire world.

Across Libya afar, and the seven mouths of the swollen Nile,
Where Asia most joyfully spreads in immense fields
Rich in various resources and filled with fragrant woods,
A region extends. The Sabeans of old inhabited it.
I believe indeed Nature, that best parent of all things,
Loved this place more than all others with a tender love.
Here the air of Heaven always breathes more mildly.
The sun has a gentler power; here are flowers of a different clime;
And the earth with fertile bosom brings forth various fruits,
Cinnamon, casia, myrrh, and fragrant thyme.
Amid the resources and gifts of this blessed land,
Turned to the sun and the warm south winds,
A tree spontaneously lifts itself into the upper air.
Growing nowhere else, and unknown in earlier centuries,
By no means great in size, it stretches not far its
Spreading branches, nor lifts a lofty top to heaven;
But lowly, after the manner of myrtle or pliant broom,
It rises from the ground. Many a nut bends its rich branches.
Small, like a bean, dark and dull in color,
Marked by a slight groove in the centre of its hull.

To transplant this growth to our own fields
Many have tried, and to cultivate it with great care.
In vain; for the plant has not responded to the zeal
And desires of the planters, and has rendered vain their long labor;
Before day the root of the tender herb has withered away.
Either this has happened through fault of climate, or grudging
Earth refuses to furnish fit nourishment to the foreign plant.

Therefore come thou, whoever shall be possesed by a love for coffee,
Do not regret having brought the healthful bean from the far
Remote world of Arabia; for this is its bountiful mother country.
The soothing draught first flowed from those regions through other
Peoples; thence through all Europe and Asia,
and next made its way through the entire world.

Therefore, what you shall know to be sufficient for your needs,
Do you prepare long beforehand; let it be your care to have collected
Yearly a copious store, and providently fill small granaries,
As of yore the farmer, early mindful and provident of the future,
Collected crops from his fields and garnered them in his barns,
And turned his attention to the coming year.

None the less, meanwhile, must the utensils for coffee be cared for.
Let not vessels suited for drinking the beverage be lacking,
And a pot, whose narrow neck should be topped by a small cover
And whose body should swell gradually into an oblong shape.
When these things shall have been provided by you, let your
Next care be to roast well the beans with flames, and to grind them when roasted.
Nor should the hammer cease to crush them with many a blow,
Until they lay aside their hardness, and when thoroughly ground,
Become fine powder; which forthwith pack either in a bag or a box made for such uses.
And wrap it in leather, and smear it over with soft wax, lest
Narrow chinks be open, or hidden channels.
Unless you prevent these, by a secret path gradually small
Particles and whatever of value exists, and the entire strength,
Would leave, wasting into empty air.

Camel Transport Between Harar and Dire-Daoua, Abyssinia

Sun-Drying in La Laguna, Philippine Islands
COFFEE SCENES IN THE NEAR AND THE FAR EAST

There is also a hollow machine, like a small tower, which they
Call a mill, in which you can bruise the useful fruit of the
Roasted bean and crush it with frequent rubbing;
A revolving pivot in the middle, on an easy wheel turning,
Twists its metal joints on a creaking stem.
The top of the wheel, you know, is pierced with an ivory handle
Which will have to be turned by hand, through a thousand revolutions,
And through a thousand circles it moves the pivot.
When you put a kernel in, you will turn the handle with quick hand—
No delay—and you will wonder how the crackling kernel is
With much grinding quickly reduced to a powder.
Once only the lower compartment receives on its kindly bosom
The crushed grains, which are placed in the very depths of the box.

But why do we linger over these less important matters?
Greater things call us. Then is it time to drain the sweet
Draught, either under the new light of the early sun
In the morning, when an empty stomach demands food;
Or, when, after the splendid feasts of a magnificent table
The overburdened stomach suffers from too heavy load, and
Unequal to the demands made upon it, seeks the aid of external heat.
Then come, when now the pot grows ruddy in the fire
Crackling beneath, and you shall behold the liquid, swelling
With mingled powdered coffee, now bubble around the brim,
Draw it from the fire. Unless you should do this, the force of
The water would break forth suddenly, overflowing, and would
Sprinkle the beverage on the fire beneath.
Therefore, let no such accident disturb your joys.
You should keep watch carefully when the water no longer
Restrains itself and bubbles with the heat; then return
The pot to the fire thrice and four times, until the powdered
Coffee steams in the midst of the fire and blends thoroughly with the surrounding water.

This soothing drink ought to be boiled with skill, to be drunk
With art—not in the way men are wont to drink other beverages—
And with reason; for when you shall have taken it steaming from
A quick fire, and gradually all the dregs have settled to the
Very bottom, you shall not drink it impatiently at one gulp.
But rather, sip it little by little, and between draughts
Contrive pleasant delays; and sipping, drain it in long draughts,
So long as it is still hot and burns the palate.
For then it is better, then it permeates our inmost bones, and
Penetrating within to the center of our vitals and our marrow,
It pervades all our body with its vivifying strength.
Often even merely inhaling the odor with their nostrils, men
Have welcomed it, when it has bubbled up from the bottom,
More refreshing than the breeze. So much pleasure is there in a delicious odor.

And now there remains awaiting us the other part of our task,
To make known the secret strength of the divine draught.
But who could hope to understand this wonderful blessing
Or to be able to pursue so great a miracle in verse?
For really, when coffee has quietly glided into your body,
Taking itself within, it sheds a vital warmth through your
Limbs, and inspires joyous strength in your heart. Then if
There is anything undigested, with fire's help, it heats the
Hidden channels, and loosens the thin pores, through which the
Useless moisture exudes, and seeds of diseases flee from all your veins.

Wherefore come, O you who have a care for your health!
You, whose triple chin hangs on your breast,
Who drag your heavy stomach of great bulk,
It is fitting for you, first of all, to indulge in the warm
Beverage; for indeed it will dry the hideous flow of moisture
Which oppresses your limbs, and sends forth streams of perspiration from your whole body.
And in a short time, the swelling of your fat belly will
Gradually begin to decrease, and it will lighten your members, now oppressed by their heavy weight.

O happy peoples, on whom Titan, rising, looks with his first light!
Here, a rather free use of wine has never done harm.
Law and religion forbid us to quaff the flowing wine.
Here one lives on coffee. Here, then, flourishing with joyous strength
One pursues life and knows not what diseases are,
Nor that child of Bacchus and companion of high living—Gout;
Nor what innumerable diseases through this union are ready to attack our world.

Yet, indeed, the soothing power of this invigorating drink
Drives sad cares from the heart, and exhilarates the spirits.
I have seen a man, when he had not yet drained a mighty
Draught of this sweet nectar, walk silently with slow gait,
His brow sad, and forehead rough with forbidding wrinkles.
This same man who had hardly bathed his throat with the sweet
Drink—no delay—clouds fled from his wrinkled brow; and
He took pleasure in teasing all with his witty sayings.
Nor yet did he pursue any one with bitter laughter. For this
Harmless drink inspires no desire of offending, the venom
Is lacking, and pleasant laughter without bitterness pleases.

And in the entire East this custom of coffee drinking
Has been accepted. And, now, France; you adopt the foreign custom,
So that public shops, one after the other, are opened for
Drinking Coffee. A hanging sign of either ivy or laurel invites the passers-by.
Hither in crowds from the entire city they assemble, and
While away the time in pleasant drinking.
And when once the feelings have grown warm, acted upon by
The gentle heat, then good-humored laughter, and pleasant
Arguments increase. General gaiety ensues,
the places about resound with joyous applause.
But never does the liquid imbibed overpower weary minds, but
Rather, if ever slumber presses their heavy eyes and dulls
The brain; and their strength, blunted, grows torpid in the
Body, coffee puts sleep to flight from the eyes, and slothful inactivity from the whole frame.
Therefore to absorb the sweet draught would be an advantage
For those whom a great deal of long-continued labor awaits
And those who need to extend their study far into the night.

And here I shall make known who taught the use of this pleasant
Drink; for its virtue, unknown, has lain hidden through many
Years; and reviewing, I shall relate the matter from the very beginning.

An Arab shepherd was driving his young goats to the well-known
Pastures. They were wandering through lonely wastes and cropping
The grasses, when a tree heavy with many berries—never seen before—met their eyes.
At once, as they were able to reach the low branches, they began
To pull off the leaves with many a nibble, and to pluck the tender
Growth. Its bitterness attracts. The shepherd, not knowing this,
Was meanwhile singing on the soft grass and telling the story of his loves to the woods.
But when the evening star, rising, warned him to leave the field,
And he led back his well-fed flock to their stalls, he perceived
That the beasts did not close their eyes in sweet sleep, but
Joyous beyond their wont, with wonderful delight throughout the
Whole night jumped about with wanton leaps. Trembling with sudden
Fear, the shepherd stood amazed; and crazed by the sound, he
Thought these things were being done through some wicked trick of a neighbor, or by magic art.

Not far from here a holy band of brethren had built their
Humble home in a remote valley; their lot it was to chant
Praises of God, and to load his altars with fitting gifts.
Although throughout the night the deep-toned bell resounded
With great din, and summoned them to the sacred temple, often
The coming of dawn found them lingering on their couches,
Having forgotten to rise in the middle of the night.
So great was their love of sleep!

In charge of the sacred temple, revered and obeyed by his
Willing brethren, was the master, an aged man, a heavy mass of white hair on head and chin.
The shepherd, hastening, came to him and told him the story,
Imploring his aid. The old man smiled to himself; but
He agreed to go, and investigate the hidden cause of the miracle.

When he has come to the hills, he observes the lambs, together
With their mothers, gnawing the berries of an unknown plant,
And cries, "This is the cause of the trouble!" And saying no
More, he at once picks the smooth fruit from the heavily-laden
Tree, and carries it home, places it, when washed, in pure
Water, cooking it over the fire, and fearlessly drinks a large
Cup of it. Forthwith a warmth pervades his veins, a living
Force is diffused through his limbs, and weariness is dispelled from his aged body.
Then, at length, the old man exulting in the blessing thus found,
Rejoices, and kindly shares with all his brothers. They eagerly
At early night-fall, indulge in pleasant banquets and drain great bowls.
No longer is it hard for them to break off sweet sleep and to leave their soft beds as formerly.
O fortunate ones! whose hearts the sweet draught has often
Bathed. No sluggish torpor holds their minds, they briskly
Rise for their prescribed duties and rejoice to outstrip the rays of the first light.

You also, whose care it is to feed minds with divine eloquence
And to terrify with your words the souls of the guilty, you also
Should indulge in the pleasant drink; for, as you know, it
Strengthens weakness. Keen vigor is gained for the limbs from
This source, and spreads through the whole body. From this source,
Too, shall come new strength and new power to your voice.
You also, whom oft harmful vapors harass, whose sick brain the dangerous vertigo shakes,
Ah, come! In this sweet liquid is a ready medicine
And none other better to calm undue agitation.
Apollo planted this power for himself, they say,
The story is worthy to be sung.

Once a disease most deadly to life assailed the disciples of
Apollo's Mount. It spread far and wide, and attacked the brain itself.
Already all the people of genius were suffering with this
Disease; and the arts, deserted, were languishing along with
The workers. Some even pretended to have the disease, and
Assuming feigned suffering, gave themselves over to an idle life.
Unpleasing work grew distasteful, and deadly inertia increased
Everywhere. It pleased all, now released from work and labors,
To indulge in care-free quiet.
Apollo, full of indignation, did not endure longer that the deadly
Contagion of such easy ruin should creep over them thus. And,
That he might take away from seers all means of deception, he
Enticed from the rich bosom of the earth this friendly plant,
Than which no other is more ready either to refresh for work the
Mind wearied by long studies, or to sooth troublesome sorrows of the head.

O plant, given to the human race by the gift of the Gods!
No other out of the entire list of plants has ever vied with you.
On your account sailors sail from our shores
And fearlessly conquer the threatening winds, sandbanks and
Dreadful rocks. With your nourishing growth you surpass dittany,
Ambrosia, and fragrant panacea. Grim diseases flee from you. To
You trusting health clings as a companion, and also the merry
Crowd, conversation, amusing jokes, and sweet whisperings.

The poet Belighi toward the close of the sixteenth century composed a poem, which, freely translated, runs:

In Damascus, in Aleppo, in great Cairo,
At every turn is to be found
That mild fruit which gives so beloved a drink,
Before coming to court to triumph.
There this seditious disturber of the world,
Has, by its unparalleled virtue,
Supplanted all wines from this blessed day.

Jacques Delille (1738–1813) the didactic poet of nature, in chant vi of his "Three Reigns of Nature," thus apostrophizes the "divine nectar" and describes its preparation: